Mall of the Dead
by Noxos
Summary: As a deadly virus breaks out inside a mall, a group of teenage boys who somehow survives the virus outbreak are force to find their way out of the mall with different levels of dead.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A mysterious man makes his way into a mall passing through him are countless number of people. he scans through the area his face hidden by his hat and sunglasses along with a gas mask like thing on his face. He was wearing a brown trench coat hiding his whole body. After awhile he continues to make his move as he takes from his pocket a small vial with a green fluid inside and then drops it releasing the strange liquid that suddenly forms into a gas like state. He then quickly makes his way to the elevator and enters it as fast as he can as the people who inhaled the strange gas begins to cough uncontrollably.

A grin appears on the man's face as he watches the people in front of him squirm as the doors of the elevator close shut before the gas could enter it. He continues on with the rest of the floors doing the same to the people inside it. But he would later on be interrupted a few floors later. A man suddenly grab his shoulder before he could drop the next vial. The man suddenly punches him and knocks him down on the floor and shouts at him him "Thats enough buddy" unfortunately as The Mysterious man drops down on the floor so does the vial, which somehow escapes his grasp and then smashes on the floor, releasing the gas unto an unexpected crowd "Looks like your too late James as we continue this chat of ours the virus will spread throughout Star Light Mall and so will begin the end of humanity itself and the usher of a new era of darkness. Farewell James" with his final words said the Mysterious man is suddenly hidden by the gas and then disappears a moment later.

The man identified as James suddenly picks up his bag and dashes towards the elevator as the gas was closing in on him and without protection would surely infect him as well. While running towards the closing elevator doors, he caught glimpses of the people who inhaled the mysterious gas turning into something else as some began to attack nearby civilians causing a huge panic in the area. As the doors finally shut tight James could only drop down on the floor and sat down with his back on the elevator wall. He breathe a deep sigh upon his failure and then grab his bag as he withdraw from it a handgun that he prepared for this kind of emergency he then places it in his holster and then brings out a couple of gun parts out of his bag and begins to assemble it in a matter of seconds into a submachine gun. He then stands up and with the sound of the elevator finally arriving at his destined floor. The doors begin to open revealing a number of what seemed like reanimated corpse of human beings. James first takes a small object from his bag identified as a grenade and upon removing the safety pin then mutters to himself "Lets get this over with." and then throws the grenade to the unsuspecting dead and upon it's impact sends the dead back down on the floor. James then rushes onto another group of them taking aim with his submachine gun and firing onto every single moving body he could find, hitting each one of them with such precision.

Somewhere outside the mall the Mysterious man enters a limo after he looked one last time at the mall that was already closed down for "Security Reasons" He already knew what was already transpiring inside it. Inside the Limo was another man his face hidden by darkness "Well Dr Herophilus looks like you had bumped in with a few problems inside the mall?"

Dr Herophilus then looked on at the wound left by James in their earlier encounter "It's nothing compared to the pain he will suffer inside. My personally constructed Hell on Earth Mall" A grin creeps onto the Doctor's face as he examined one of the vials he used earlier "That man has been a thorn on my side for years it feels good to know that he will get the death he deserves"

"Ah yes the virus you concocted not long ago it gave as quite a sum of income from a man in Japan. It won't be long before other terrorist from other countries will want it" said the Doctor's companion

Dr Herophilus grin grew even wider than before "Of course it is, my creative genius made this wonderful virus possible, it is only natural that all would desire it and used it on their enemies. It won't be long now a new world order born from this filth. A world ruled by the dead." upon this proclamation Dr Herophilus began to laugh maniacally with his companion hardly interrupting the Doctor.

Somewhere inside the mall a Teenage boy at the age of 16 awakes from his seat in Starlight Mall's Cinema with the movie he was watching long over. He scanned through the whole room with only empty seats to greet him along with countless popcorn and other snacks lying down on the ground with other random belongings The Boy then mutters to himself "What happened here?"


	2. Awakening

**Chapter 1: Awakening**

Clark a young man at the age of 16 felt nauseous as he awakes on his seat in the cinema. The movie screen was pitch black and the whole cinema was filled with dead silence he scanned through the room across the various empty seats behind him and found nothing but popcorn and various items lying on the ground. It made the room look like a stampede took place there "What happened here?" he muttered to himself

He was taken by surprise by the sudden emergence of a moan echoing throughout the whole room. It would later on be followed by someone's voice "Stop shouting my head really hurts" He then stumbles upon one of his friends Joseph on the floor "Clark is that you what are you doing way up there?" Joseph then points up towards the ceiling of the cinema.

Clark looked at his eccentric friend that was lying on the ground and then stretches his hand towards him "Come on Joriel let's get out of here it seems you took way too much sugar this morning" Joriel was a nickname for Joseph by his friends combining his two names Joseph and Gabriel. After a few failed attempts at trying to grab Clark's hand Joriel then stood up with his legs abit wobbly.

"Woah! Did I try to eat all of this?" asked Joseph scanning through the current state of the cinema.

"I don't know, I woke up and this place was already like this" answered Clark as he and Joseph were making their way out of the cinema.

As he continue examining the room, Joseph realizes that they weren't the only ones who cut classes and watch a movie "Wait Clark where is Zen and Alex?

It was unusual enough for the cinema to be in this state, it was probably why Clark didn't notice that his other two friends were missing as well "If were both alright I guess that those two should be too, this is Raph and Alex were talking about"

A chuckle could be heard from Joseph who said "Oh yeah Zen's gotten into Body building last summer. While Alex.. His got that mouth on him that will never shut up or refuse to go down."

Clark laugh a little 'Yeah their probably the one's worrying about us right now, well we better get out of here and meet up with th-" Clark and Joseph both stop as they left in awe at the nightmare awaiting them outside those double doors.

Bodies lying everywhere on the ground and some were even missing arms, legs, and even a head, and also some of the stores had their glass windows smash with a various items scattered throughout the floor. The two slowly walk through the slaughter Joseph stops midway, Clark paid no attention to this and continued to make his way to one of the fallen bodies he knelt down on one knee and examined the closes body that was still intact. He check for a pulse and nothing, he check another one and still nothing he did however notice some of them had gun wounds on their head, whoever shot them was aiming for their head as that was the most common place he would find a gun wound with all the bodies on the floor. Some however had bite marks and even some parts of their body seemed like they were bitten off by something. "Their dead... Their all dead Joseph what could have cause this kind of thing to happen?" said Clark he waited for awhile for his friend's reply and nothing he turned to Joseph and asked "Joriel is there anything wrong?"

As he motioned to his friend he saw Joseph froze standing with his eyes agape he was trying to point at one particular body on the ground it was wearing His and Joriel's School Jacket but had the hood on which barely made his face recognizable at first but taking a closer look at him. The body turned out to be none other then their friend Alex. Clark quickly rushes to his fallen friend's side and checked for any pulse but just the same with the rest of the bodies nothing. He bowed down his head and so did Joriel who finally calmed down after awhile and said "How could this happen Clark? Alex.. He's…"

Neither one of the two could finish that sentence, Clark couldn't even get a word out of his mouth after the lost of his friend. He did however check Alex's head and found another headshot wound like the rest of the dead and dried up blood on his face. "Right... Well we already gave Alex his moment of silence and we can't stay here for long or we might get caught up with what cause this so we better get out of this mall" He then stood up and made his way to the elevator "Let's go Joriel"

After finally moving from his spot and farther away from Alex's body Joseph muttered a short goodbye and Rest in Peace to the his dead friend, he wasn't expecting a reply so he continued on his way without looking back. As they walk through the floor to the elevator they both scanned through the area everything they saw seemed to have the same story with each body having gun wounds on them but they paid little attention to this. Upon arriving at the elevator Clark press the Down button and they both waited for the elevator to arrive.

A few minutes later and still nothing the elevator wasn't even moving from the floor it was on, Clark growing impatient ask Joseph "Joriel do you know what usually happens when something is stuck between two elevator doors here in Starlight Mall?"

"Well usually the doors would remain open until whatever is blocking the elevators sensor is remove. Which is for safety reasons of course" answered Joseph he had his head held up high as if he just answered a million dollar question.

Clark then nodded in agreement "Thats right, so what if what happened here in this floor happened on the other floors as well. Say for example a dead body lying down stuck in the elevator doors?"

A shock expression appeared in Joseph's face "Then that would mean that the elevator would be stuck on that floor too, until somebody removes the body which is probably what is happening with this elevator right now, which also means were stuck here in the top floor until somebody removes that body" Joseph was starting to panic upon the realization that they may never get out of here.

Clark places his hand on Joseph's shoulder trying calm down his panicking friend and said "Calm down hopefully were not the only ones alive here and the police are probably getting ready to handle this situation as we speak so we will get out of here." Clark then walks away from the elevator followed by Joseph.

"So what do you want to do now?"

Clark was still scanning through the floor for any signs of life and answers Joseph "I don't know, how about we look around the stores for awhile? We may be able to find someone who can shed some light on what happened here."

While surveying the surrounding area for anyone who can give them a clue Joseph spots a human figure inside one of the restaurants stationed in that floor and quickly points to it and tells Clark "Well how about that restaurant over there Clark looks like someone is inside" Joseph then tells himself "_Wait maybe with all this chaos going around nobody will notice anything missing.. Now that gives me an idea_" Joseph imagines all of the stuff he could probably claim during this kind of chaos "_I bet no one would even protest if I took a couple of games and stuff while I'm here"_

The two then make their way to the restaurant to investigate the mysterious figure Joseph saw, but upon entering the restaurant, they found something even worse that made them wish they never woke up to this nightmare their world has become. They found the human like figure Joseph saw but did not expect they would find it munching on a dead man's body and Clark was the first to react to the situation "What the! What is that thing?" He notice that it did look like a man but it had blood all over its body its clothes were also torn apart with scratch and bite marks on its skin, the blood was oozing out of its mouth. Clark felt like he was about to throw up at the sight and then back and knocks over a vase on one of the tables

_It_ is then alerted by the sound of the vase breaking into pieces and then stops eating his target and takes its attention to Clark and Joseph, _It_ stands up facing the two friends he tries to walk but could only shamble towards them, Joseph froze and could not move from the shock. Clark notice this and tries to find something to defend themselves with, quickly grabbing a beaten up metal bat near one of the bodies, despite the current condition of the bat Clark couldn't find any other item that can be use as a weapon. He then rushes to _It_ and swings the bat and hits _It's_ head as hard as he could knocking _It_ down. Clark around to check up on Joseph when _It_ suddenly grabs Clark's leg and pulls him down to the floor. Clark quickly tries to get away from _It_ but _Its_ grip was too strong to break, too strong for even a normal human.

Joseph snap out of his state of shock and looks around the area and find something to save his friend, but as time pass it seems to be too late as its mouth was just a few inches away from Clark's leg and Joseph could only stop and watch his friends demise, unable to even lift a finger to save him, But then as if a miracle occurs a young man carrying a cleaver suddenly appears from the kitchen of the restaurant and after spotting Clark down on the ground was almost dinner for _It_ the young man then ran towards and cut off _It's_ arm with his cleaver freeing Clark from _It_ who then stands up and after grabbing the beat up bat once more, quickly finishes _It_ off by continuously smashing _It's_ head until _It_ completely stops from moving

After having a near death experience Clark then gasp for air and after awhile then takes notice of his savior and tells him "Hey thanks for your help I thought I was going to die there for a moment." but after taking a good look at his savior Clark face brightens up to find out who he was "Zen you're alive!" Raphael was still wearing their school jacket but with the sleeves torn off and stains of blood could be found in various parts of his jacket as well, probably from an encounter from the same thing they face just now.

Wiping off the blood on the cleaver Raphael just smiled at his two friends or possibly from the blood on the cleaver, a well known secret by only his closest friends that he hid a sadistic side of him from others thinking his level of sadism was too much for normal people too handle. He suddenly receive a hug from Joseph who was overjoyed not only because Clark was able to survive his encounter with _Them_ but one of his friends turned out to still be alive.

Raphael then felt abit uncomfortable with it and then smacks Joseph's head who then lets him go "I'm glad to see you guys too but its better if we continue this conversation inside the kitchen, we wouldn't want to attract any unwanted attention" The three friends then made their way to the kitchen and Raphael quickly locks the door.

Upon noticing this Clark then ask Raphael about the lock recalling his earlier encounter with one of _Them_ "Will locking the door really prevent them from entering the room, the grip that thing had felt so strong just a normal door with a lock may not be able to stop it from entering this kitchen"

"Don't worry the lock isn't for stopping any of _Them_ its for stopping anyone who is stupid enough to open the door and let _Them_ inside the room, besides while were inside this room there is a low chance that _They_ will come inside and attack us." explained Raphael to his worried friend he knew a trait Clark couldn't get rid of was being a worrywart especially now in a situation like this. They then catch the scent of meat being cook and quickly saw that Joseph was cooking something with ingredients he found inside the kitchen.

After taking a sip of the soup he is cooking Joseph then notice that his friends were staring at him giving him a what the heck are you doing in this situation look. "What I was getting hungry besides its not like anyone is going to notice anything missing after something like this happened"

A grumbling sound from Raphael and Clark's stomach could be heard and both of them just laugh it off in embarrassment and Clark said "Okay Joriel you deal with the cooking me and Raphael will prepare the table then." After that they then unlock the door to get one of the tables in the restaurant, Clark then thinks to himself "_I guess I could ask Raphael about what happened later, for now we'll just enjoy a meal and plan our next move to get out of here_" as _they_ were bringing in the table he notices the corpse of one of the waitresses and suddenly remembers a certain girl "_If these kind of chaos is taking place in a mall I wonder if the state outside is any better. I wonder if you're all right_" he then feels a hand patting his head and notices Raphael giving him a comforting smile possibly noticing Clark was starting to worry again he then smiles back to show his fine "_Well for now just stay safe until I find you..._"

* * *

**Chapter 1.5 _Them_**

The group of three friends Clark, Joseph and Raphael sat comfortably inside the restaurant's kitchen each one holding a bowl of fresh stew made by Joseph "Oh God, this is so good you've really out done yourself this time Joriel" Said Clark who was already on his third bowl.

After putting down his fifth bowl of stew Raphael agreed "You sure did save my sanity Joriel, you won't believe how hard it was for me to think of how any of these things work, I was even considering cannibalism after seeing one of _Them _eat"

Joseph could only raise his head with pride trying to hide the smile forming on his face "Thanks guys it was just something I put together considering how useless I was earlier" Joseph then looks at Raphael "But I have to ask you Zen why do you keep calling them that?"

"Calling _Them_ what?" asked Raphael as he was getting his sixth bowl of Beef Stew.

"That!" pointed Joseph "You keep on putting emphasis whenever you call them, _Them_"

"Oh.." whispered Raphael as a hint of sadness suddenly filled his eyes "Well its a long story so I'll just give you the details on why we should call _Them_ that"

After a spoon full of Stew, Clark said "Well wouldn't it be easier if we just call them something cooler like The Infected, or Walkers, or even Z-"

"Stop!" shouted Raphael and after a few awkward seconds of trying to calm down he continued "Those things.. We can't consider _Them_ human guys, if we did we would have that moral attachment to them that would make it hard for us to kill _Them._ Clark if you saw Cindy turn into one of _Them_, do you think you would even have the mindset to take a bat and kill her like you killed that _Thing_ earlier?"_  
_

Silence was the only answer the two could give and Raphael continued "Which is why when we come face to face with one of _Them _we can't just stand there waiting to be eaten, we need to survive this thing get out of this mall and go back to our normal lives, and only way to do that is to take down every single one of _Them_ standing between us and the exit."


	3. Plunge into Hell

**Chapter 2 Plunge into Hell**

Clark, Joseph, and Raphael stood in front of the elevator, despite waiting for nearly an hour the number on the screen that signified the floor where the Elevator is, still hasn't change. Raphael furiously growled as he kicked the door as hard as he could "I've had it! We've waited here long enough nothing is gonna happen if we wait another hour for this thing to start moving." He then starts pacing around trying to calm himself down.

"He's right Clark I don't know why you wanted to check up on this elevator again. We already know its not gonna start moving anytime soon." said Joriel as he was lying down on the mall floor.

Clark stood there still staring at the elevator, the look in his eyes gave Joseph assurance that they couldn't give up that easy. As if on queue Clark then look at them with a determined smile "I've got it! We surely can't wait up here forever for this elevator. So all we have to do is go down manually towards the elevator ourselves" The idea gained him strange looks coming from his two friends but he just ignored it and continued on "but first, we need something to defend ourselves with." Clark then looks at Raphael's Cleaver "I don't know about you Zen but I don't feel safe with just you holding the only weapon against _Them_, nor do I want to go fight them in hand to hand combat when the need arises. So I suggest we scavenge whatever we can find up here, who knows maybe will find a gun or something"

"As crazy as the first idea sounds, I don't hate the second one." Replied Raphael "Personally if one of _Them _appears we can't always count on a good weapon lying on the ground, so I suggest we visit that sporting goods store **Beat Up,** located on this floor. They only sell low quality stuff but it'll atleast help us survive long enough to get to the good stuff in the lower levels."

Joseph and Raphael then made their way to the store but after a few steps Joseph then looks back after noticing Clark was going a different way "Hey Clark where are you going? **Beat Up** is this way"

"Don't worry about me, I'll catch up I'll just go and check up on something in that Hardware Store over there" Replied Clark who was pointing at a store located on the opposite direction. "Just go on without me and get me a good bat while you're there."

Staying vigilant of the area Clark slowly walks towards the Hardware store, he could have sworn he heard Joseph yell something but paid no attention to it, he knew the dangers of wandering off by himself but something told him that for his plan to be a success he needed to get everything he needed as soon as possible, he didn't have a weapon of any kind on him nor did he have anyone to back him up. Encountering one of _Them_ could only lead to one thing. "_Maybe I should have done this after we went to _**Beat Up**_ probably had a bigger chance if I did that._" He whispered to himself.

**-=Beat Up=-**

"Who does he think he is, going off on his own?" said Joseph as he watched Raphael look through some baseball bats "Does he think this is some kind of game we could just die and then come back to life by loading a save file?"

Raphael examines the bat he was holding, it was probably the best one he could find in the pile, he then throws it towards Joseph who tries it out with a swing "Personally I'm not that worried about Clark, he's the kind of guy who would always have a plan B in his head when things get rough"

"I guess you're right, but he was almost dead an hour ago if you hadn't arrive" replied Joseph who then throws Raphael the bat and grabs a baseball from the shelf "Good bat by the way" he throws a ball to Raphael who connects it with a swing, hitting the ball as hard as he could and sending it crashing through **Beat Up**'s window

"Good Swing" commented Raphael with a smirk on his face "Well he didn't know anything about _Them_ at that time, just give him time to adjust and you'll see him running a motor through them in no time" he then pointed the bat towards Joseph "You on the other hand, should probably stay behind while we handle the fighting you get scared easily in close combat so until we get that out of your system maybe you can just fight _Them_ from afar, maybe we can customize some darts or even a Frisbee disk with razor blades on the edges for you."

Joseph lazily replied "No thanks I think I'd rather have you two do all the fighting and I'll just stay in the background and actually live" he then grabs a dart from a nearby table and throws it towards a picture posted on the wall and completely misses "See, if I can't even hit that how in the world do you expect me to hit a moving target"

"Guess you're right, will just have to find you another weapon something that's a sure hit" said Raphael, who then turned his attention to the window they broke after hearing someone step on a shard of glass.

"Clark you're back" said Joseph as he was trying to get the dart from the wall "Sorry about the mess we kind of got carried away an-"

**-=Delta Class Hardware Store=-**

"_Darn Their everywhere" _thought Clark as he hid inside an aisle, waiting for one of _Them_ to pass. He somehow made it to the Hardware Store without having to fight any of _Them_ but soon found himself trapped inside the store, when a group of _Them_ showed up

Clark then slowly walks to another aisle filled with nothing but cans of paint "_I swear I just tip over a box of nails and suddenly, Their all over the place_" he spots a sign that read hammers and muttered "Jackpot" he quickly slides through another aisle trying to find a way to get closer to his destination without being spotted.

He stares at the aisle next to him knowing fully well that whatever he needs is just a few feet away, he checks to see if the backpack he pick up on the way to the Hardware was still intact, but then he feels an ominous aura surround the air around, him as he then hears footsteps behind him. The young man wouldn't even dare to move knowing exactly what it was, he could hear it grow closer and closer with each passing second. The fear inside him grew with each step as he recalled the feeling he had earlier when one of _Them_ held him with an Iron grip, mere seconds before he would have become food for the dead. "_Just stay calm Clark_" he told himself as he surveyed the area for any potential weapons, unfortunately the only thing the whole aisle had was bolts, and different kinds of screws "_You can do this. If it attacks you attack back and kill It"_

He could already feel _It_ behind him and had already grabbed one of the largest screw within his reach and planned to use it against _It. _"_Now or Never_" Clark thought as he was gripping the screw tightly. The wind around him suddenly changes as the ominous aura disappears along with the sound of passing footsteps. He opened his eyes to find _It _was long gone. He put back the screw, and looked out once more for where _It _could have gone. "_Must've been my imagination_" he told himself.

After stowing the last item he needed in his back pack, Clark immediately puts it on, and grabbed a crowbar he left on the floor, he was already calculating his way out of the store. When out of nowhere he could hear the sound of glass shuttering, echoing throughout the floor, "_Those guys…"_ he whispered with a hint of annoyance, he then hid behind one of the stands and observe one of _Them_. _It _reacted immediately to the sound and shambled his way towards it along with most of _Them_ who had entered the Hardware store.

Waiting until all of _Them_ were out he made his move by sprinting towards the exit, avoiding most of them by keeping a great distance between him and _Them. _Clark reaches **Beat Up **in no time but not in the state he wished, finding a hand full of _Them_ had already beaten him to the store. He rushes towards one of _Them_ knowing fully well that their cover was already blown and his friends could have already been Dead if he was too late, he drives the shard end of the crow bar directly on the skull and quickly removes it as another one of _Them_ had sets _It's_ sight on him. Clark drops the crowbar and brings out a nail gun from his backpack points it directly at _It's _skull but _It_ tightlywraps _It's _arms around Clark nearly preventing him from breathing, with his conscious fading Clark uses his remaining strength to aim the nail gun directly on _It's_ head and fires it point blank. After losing control of _It's _body _It_ falls to the ground setting Clark free who then tries to catch his breath. Another one of _Them_ grabs a hold of Clark from behind this time forcing him to drop the Nail gun, and with his crowbar out of reach he tries force his way out of _It's _Iron Grip.

_It _suddenly let's go of Clark and drops down on the floor followed by a decapitated head falling on the ground "Save you twice in one day, you have got to stop embarrassing yourself Clark" said Raphael who was holding on to his Cleaver dripping with blood.

"You know what they say, the best friends you can have are the one's who will always make fun of you while trying to pull you out of the fire" replied Clark he looked at Raphael and could already see it in his eyes that he was in his Sadistic Mode.

Raphael then decapitates another one while saying "Whoever said that must have been an idiot cause I've never heard it before" he was then caught off guard when Clark point his Nail gun at him, and was too slow to react when he saw Clark pull the trigger. Surprise that he was unharmed he looked behind him finding one _It_ dropping down on the floor with dozens of nails had pierced _It's _head.

"Now that should make as even" Clark smirked

"Even? not even close" replied Raphael he looks around finding out that they already cleared the area of _Them_.

Joseph made his way out of the store and heads to Clark and Raphael, Clark hands him a Nail gun while Joseph gives him a bat "We better get out of here, that was just the first wave"

After putting the Bat inside his bag, Clark picks up the crowbar he dropped and responds "You're right we need to get out of here quick, Zen take this" Clark throws Raphael the crowbar and brings out another one from his bag. "Now let's open up that elevator and get the hell out of here"

With the combined efforts of Clark and Raphael, they eventually open the Elevator doors with help from the crowbar Clark got, only to find it empty with nothing but the cable wire mechanism use to pull the Elevator up "Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Raphael as he was covering his hands with torn off sleeves they found on some clothes lying around.

"Positive!" responded Clark "I saw them do this in an Anime once" he stared down the hole that was filled with nothing but darkness and drops his back pack along with their others weapons after a few seconds he hears echoes of its impact on the Elevator's roof. "Just don't forget to grab on tight to the cable and we should make it down alive." Without notice he jumps down and grabs ahold of the cable and slides down at such a high speed, he immediately disappears from Raphael and Joriel's sight in a matter of seconds.

"Now that looks like fun" commented Raphael who was already getting ready to jump "See you at the bottom Joriel" he then does the same as Clark and jumps without another word except the echo of him having fun.

Joseph was still having second thoughts about this, "_Oh god the things this two make me do. They didn't even give me time to say No_" he whispered to himself "Well atleast this is alot better than dying in _Their_ hands" After taking a deep breath he follows his friends and jumps down the hole making sure he grabs a hold of the cable while screaming for the rest his descent.

* * *

**Chapter 2.5 The Head**

"We never do that again" said Joseph who was moaning in pain after landing on Clark's Backpack, he along with Clark and Raphael we're lying flat on the ground. "What did you even put inside that bag Clark? It felt like it would have been less painful if I just landed on the elevator"

Clark chuckled as he look up trying to see how far did they fall down " You have to admit though that was kind of fun" he commented he stands up and says "By the way I think I found out what _Their_ weakness is"

"The Head" answered Raphael, he stands up as well with a grin on his face "Thats old news Clark"

"Well sorry we just woke up couple of hours ago, its not our fault we didn't hear the news about _Them _101" replied Clark who was searching the floor for something. "But it does fit everything we've seen so far, even if you cut of _Their _arms they will still keep moving, even if you beat them to a pulp _They_ will just stand up again and attack. The only way for a sure kill is to strike their head" Clark then points at his temples "Specifically the brain"

Joseph then finally stands up as well and searches Clark's Backpack bringing out the Nail gun that was given to him earlier, he aims it at a wall and pulls the trigger. "Still a bad shot, even without the recoil" he sighed "isn't that kind of unfair for us? They can just bite our arms off and we die, while even if we cut their arms and legs they'll still try to come after us"

Clark finds the hatch for the elevator planted on the ground with a wheel attached to it, he grabs it with both of his hands and tries to turn it. But to no avail "Shut tight" he whispered. He goes back to his backpack and gets two pairs of gloves and hands a pair over to Raphael "Do you mind giving me a hand here Zen?" he asked.

Raphael takes it and puts them on while he whispered with a grin on his face "Always the muscle" the two then head over to the hatch, both of them grabbing a side of the wheel and then tries to turn it. While Joseph just stands in one side practicing with the Nail gun.


	4. Operation Round Up

**Chapter 3 Operation Round Up**

"Finally it's open" said Clark as he lifted the hatch up, They were on the Elevator's roof after their wild jump out of the top floor and safely landing on it, they took their chances and went with Clark's plan and somehow live through it. It was quiet on the top floor and they hadn't seen any signs of _Them_ following them down there.

Raphael was taking off his gloves and commented "That took longer than expected, but atleast we finally went down a few floors" he grabs his Cleaver from the floor and drops it inside the Elevator.

After putting the Nail gun inside the Backpack, Joseph went over to the Hatch and peeked inside "Hey Clark, looks like you're right, there is a dead body blocking the elevator's sensors" he tries to go down but was then stop by Raphael.

"Maybe I should go down first, just in case that dead guy stands up and attacks_"_ Said Raphael who then jumps down the hatch, entering the elevator, and picks up his Cleaver he surveys the floor they were in finding none of _Them _around, he quickly picks up the body and moves it out of the Elevator and got back inside pressing the Close button quickly and followed by the Elevator's door closing. "Okay the coast is clear you guys" he shouted.

Still on the roof Clark picks up his back pack and throws it down to Raphael who catches it with ease. He then jumps down and then after him Joseph jumps down as well, feeling victorious over _Them _he said with a grin on his face "Finally we're in the Elevator, now let's go down to the first floor and get out of here" Clark then presses the 1st Floor button, but nothing happens he presses it a couple more times and still nothing. "No way.." he muttered, he then tries to press the other buttons but not a single one would work.

The three friends were growing hysterical over their wasted effort. Feeling like they were cheated once more by fate, Joseph was already kneeling down on the ground whispering to himself "This can't be right.. Is our luck that bad, after going through one problem after another we find ourselves trapped again, this time inside an elevator with no other way out but back to _Them_"

Raphael was already going through the back pack for a crowbar he hands it over to Clark and takes another one out as they look at each other in the eyes and already knew what to do. "Let's bust this door open Clark, your first plan may not have work but we can atleast try to get out this elevator and come up with another one" He said. They were about to start opening the door when the intercom inside the Elevator suddenly interrupts with a static sound spraying out of it.

A voice suddenly comes out of the intercom echoing inside the Elevator. "Congratulations on getting this far, boys, you would have made your parents proud with your performance. I was watching the whole time since Leader boy there woke up"

The three stop and look up at the intercom placed on camera positioned on the ceiling "And who would you be" shouted Raphael "Would you be the security guard who watched us all die while safely locked up in his own room waiting to be rescued with a box of donuts and coffee?"

They could hear the voice laughing a little and said "No, no that guy's dead, I should know cause I kind of killed him when I broke the lock and went inside. But you're right about the donuts, best ones I've ever had, don't know why he would try to take a bite out of me when he could get a bite out of this" a sound of someone munching on a donut could be heard from the intercom.

"He was already one of _Them_ when you went in?.." asked a surprise Clark he whispered to himself "..and the door was locked" he had a look of terror in his face as he thought about it more.

The voice in the intercom continued "Yeah he was one tough guy gave him everything I had and he still stood up for more, had to put a couple of bullets in his head just to make sure he stayed down" he laughed again "_Them_ is that what you call them? Original but not very creative really, I like to call them Scatterbrains, sure it isn't original but I like the sound of it"

"Wait you never did answer our question, who are you and what do you want?" asked Raphael again with a more serious voice.

The voice had an apologizing tone in voice "Oh right it is kind of rude for me to watch your every move without even introducing myself, unfortunately I can't give you my name that's on a need to know basis. But I can tell you that I'm a federal agent tasked to stop a criminal mastermind from killing us all, as you can see I kind of failed that one"

The air around the Elevator felt alittle heavier than it did, the three weren't sure about what he really meant when he said he failed, it made them wonder if this whole nightmare was still waiting for them outside the Mall's walls. But none of them wanted to face that reality, atleast not yet and so no one brought it up. To change the mood Raphael then asked "So that kind of answers the first question, now lets move on to the next one. What do you want with us?"

"Hold on Muscles, I was just getting to that part," replied The Agent to Raphael "Get ready for a very long mission briefing. First of all the good news is that we aren't the only ones alive inside this mall, a couple of other civilians were able to resist the infection and barricaded themselves in certain parts of the mall. The Higher Ups told me that I need to round up all of the remaining survivors and get them out of this mall as soon as possible, now thanks to the security cams placed in different parts of the Mall I can easily find and watch each of the survivors the only problem is that I can't leave this place due to an injury I sustained earlier fighting the Scatterbrains" The Agent's tone suddenly got a bit more serious "That's were you guys come in I'll help with navigating you and leading you to different parts of the mall to gather up the remaining survivors and when we're through we can get of here and call it quits" the sound of different buttons being pushed can be heard from the intercom and suddenly the Agent's voice comes back "Now I have complete control of the Elevators so I atleast know you guys won't do anything stupid and go to a floor that is completely infested with them Scatterbrains, so first I'll bring you to the floor with the confirmed least number of Scatterbrains. According to the cameras there's a group of survivors there hold up their seems to be a security guard with them who is acting as their leader, so convincing them shouldn't be that hard."

"I'm sorry, but I kind of miss the part where this is suppose to be our problem" Said Raphael who continued on "I mean aren't we part of the civilians you're suppose to save? So why do we have to go out their and risk our lives for people we don't even know or care about"

The Agent went silent for awhile but eventually said "While it is true that you were civilians that are technically unrelated to this case, the key word there being "Were". Due to your unbelievable performance earlier and the shortage of agents on this mission you have been unofficially drafted to Team Gamma as Junior Agents, ordered by the higher ups and so it is your duty as defenders of this country to save every life that is in danger in this building. Of course after this mission is over we will gladly discharge you upon request and give you the proper reward heroes like you deserve"

Raphael couldn't believe a single word the man was saying and replied "That's a load of bu—" He was however cut off by Joseph's out burst.

"I can't believe it Clark, did you hear what the man in the radio said! We're actual agents, unfortunately we'll only be agents just this once, but still we're Class A agents" said Joseph who couldn't even contain his excitement.

While Joseph continued to babble about how cool being an Agent would be. Clark whispered to Raphael "We should go with it for now Zen, its not like we're in the position to say no to him. He has us trap inside this Elevator, atleast we can come up with a plan to get out of here later when he actually let's us out."

Raphael whispered back "You better be right about this Clark, I am not going to be some federal agent's lapdog" they then face the camera again and said "Alright you win we'll do as you say and save those civilians, but the reward better be worth it"

The intercom went dead for a moment but a faint sound could be heard inside the Elevator, The Group could already feel the Elevator moving. The Agent's voice spoke up again "I'm glad you finally came around, now listen I won't be able to guide you much from here so take this" the sound of a button being push was heard again, and out comes three small earphones "You can wear this so I can contact you regarding any recent findings, or if I'm just bored up here and need someone to listen to my beautiful voice"

Each one in the group grabs an earphone and inspects it, Clark whispers to his two friends "So are you two also looking for the off switch" and Raphael and Joseph nodded in sync "Yeah me too, tell me when you do find it"

Each member of the group puts on their earphone followed by the intercom going dead again, and The Agent's voice coming out of the earphones "Good so you can hear me right? Nod if you do" the three then nodded "Okay good, now the group of survivors located in this floor are somewhere at the food court they seem to have settled in their for now while the security guard acts as their protector, so make yourselves look alive when you see him or else he might shoot you thinking you're one of them Scatterbrains"

Raphael answered with an annoyed tone "Yes we get it, Operation Round Up ready to go, can you just shut up for awhile and let us do our thing"

"Copy that was" was all The Agent said, after a few minutes of preparing they suddenly hear the Elevator doors moving and after a while opens up, after close inspection they found out they were in the basement with one of _Them_ wandering alone close to the Elevator.

Clark pulls out his bat from the bag, while Joseph holds on to the Nail gun, and Raphael clutches on to his Cleaver's handle. Clark takes the lead and said "Alright guys let's take _Them_ out, rescue everyone, go back home and live to tell the tale"

* * *

**Chapter 3.5 Senses**

After exiting the Elevator and getting their orders from The Agents, The Group encounters one of _Them_ alone outside the Elevator, Raphael holds on to his Cleaver and rushes to kill it only to be stopped by Clark "Wait, I want to try something out on _It"_ he brings out a small screw from his pocket and throws it a few inches away from _It.__  
_

_It _reacts to the screw and shambles _It's_ way to where it fell, Clark picks up his Bat and tiptoes his way over to _It_ making sure not to make a single sound with each step he took. After standing in front but keeping a considerable amount distance from himself and _It_ Clark waves his arms trying to catch _It's_ attention, but only ending with _It_ ignoring Clark, he brings out another little screw from his pocket and drops it on the floor. _It _shambles _It's _way over to the screw once more, only this time after closing the distance between _It _and Clark. _It _suddenly reacts to Clark and goes for him instead only for Clark to dodge _It's _Attempt and hit _It _in the head knocking him down, Clark follows this up by smashing the bat on _It's _head once more giving enough force to stop _It _from moving completely.

After seeing _It_ was dead Joseph made his way to Clark and ask "What was that all about?"

"Senses" was what Clark said, and then he continued "_Their_ sense are different from ours, which is one of the things that makes us different from _Them_, _They_ can't see us, nor can _They_ feel pain. But despite the lose of this sense, their ability to smell and hear were strengthen to an abnormal rate. I actually saw _Them _exhibit this earlier in the hardware store and confirm it as soon as possible" Clark also thought to himself "_Plus I finally get to do a title drop_"

Raphael shrugged it off and said "So you stole my kill just for that? Well if we're done playing science over here we should probably head over to that food court and finish this mission, I'm actually starting to get a little hungry again"

After a few minutes of walking Clark decided to break the silence and ask "So let me see if I got this, This Agent Guy want us a group of untrained Teenagers who are equipped with nothing but regular everyday tools we picked up on the way here. To go out here and fight off a bunch of reanimated corpse that won't even die unless they take a direct hit to the head not to mention that this things are abnormally strong and resilient to anything you throw at them. While him a federal agent with all the training and proper equipment for this kind of disaster will just sit down in that security room and do nothing except watch us face death again and again, so we can do his mission which he can't do because he sustained an injury from _Them_, Is that right?"

"Sounds about right" answered Joseph. "Atleast we got to become Super Cool Junior Agents because of him, although I have to say. If he could give us these tiny Hi tech earphones, you'd think he could have supplied us with atleast some guns or even a more durable weapon" commented Joseph as he stared at his Nail Gun.

"I still think we're idiots for actually listening to him, and not coming up with a plan to get out of this mall ourselves" said Raphael.

After a couple more minutes of searching for the Food Court, Clark suddenly stops after he picks up a faint cry "Wait guys did you hear that?" he asked

Joseph and Raphael stops and looks around trying to listen for whatever sound their friend picked up. "Sorry bro we didn't hear a thing" replied Joseph.

Clark then turns his head when he picks up the cry once more and says "There it is again, I think it was a little girl's voice, let's go" he runs to the direction from where the sound originated leaving behind his two friends.

"Wait Clark don't go it's not really a little girl it's one of _Them_ imitating a girl crying, it probably saw her kid dead before she turned into one of _Them_ and has this sharp claws and will tear you apart, while wearing nothing but a torn shirt and underwear.." shouted Joseph, but after thinking about what he said he suddenly started running after his friend "Wait Clark we're coming with you I've always wanted to see a witch."

Raphael just sighed and check how much farther they were from the Food Court, and then after a while decides to run after them.

* * *

The awkward moment when the Side Chapter actually had more plot development then the Main Chapter.. darn The Agent plot really took a chunk out of Chapter 3.


End file.
